Guardia Civil, named as Santiago A.N., who shot dead an immigrant who had arrived on a patera small boat in Tarifa in December 2000, has been sentenced to six months in jail for involuntary manslaughter.In a long sentence the court in Algeciras leaves several questions open in the case. The official version from the Government Sub-delegate in Cádiz was that the gun went off accidentally during a struggle, but the evidence accepted in the sentence considers there was no struggle and the shot was not accidental. Another immigrant witness said the Civil Guard approached the victim with his finger on the trigger of his gun, and with the safety catch off.
The court ruled the action of the Civil Guard was disproportionate to what he should have done to protect the immigrant, and that it not justified either because there was no evidence either that his own life was in any danger.The Guardia has also been ordered to pay 300,000 € in compensation to the victim’s family, and has also been ordered to pay the costs of the case.